Henry Gasser, American,1909–1981, Untitled, 1960, oil on board, 19 x 27 in., Saint Vincent College Collection, Gift of the Artist.
A strong proponent of the Social Realist Movement, Henry Martin Gasser provided visions of the lived experience of working-class Americans, concentrating on the unadorned environments of the Eastern seaboard. An exceptional oil painter, watercolorist, and lecturer, Gasser authored several books on painting instruction, offering presentations on his illustrative style throughout the United States. Gasser’s three-week demonstration tour in the fall of 1960 included sites through the American South, Midwest, and Northeast, culminating at Saint Vincent. On the evening of November 14, Gasser impressed students with a variety of his signature techniques resulting in this painting.
As in many of his works, a solitary figure traverses a snow-clad scene–a metaphor for an isolation indicative of modern life. Trees wafting in the wind, shifting clouds, and the hunched posture of the man suggest the physical as well as psychological effects of a blustery, mid-winter day. A New Jersey native, most of Gasser’s
well-documented subject matter derives from locale where industry and labor prevailed. These vignettes were often composites of several sketches rather than complete observations of a single environment. Gasser was an advocate for working en plein air rather than relying on the use of photographs to best capture the nuances of color, shading, and the spatial relationships between objects.
As in many of his works, a solitary figure traverses a snow-clad scene–a metaphor for an isolation indicative of modern life. Trees wafting in the wind, shifting clouds, and the hunched posture of the man suggest the physical as well as psychological effects of a blustery, mid-winter day. A New Jersey native, most of Gasser’s
well-documented subject matter derives from locale where industry and labor prevailed. These vignettes were often composites of several sketches rather than complete observations of a single environment. Gasser was an advocate for working en plein air rather than relying on the use of photographs to best capture the nuances of color, shading, and the spatial relationships between objects.
Henry Gasser, Untitled, n.d., watercolor on board, 8.5 x 10 in., Saint Vincent College Collection.
